Oh, that YouTube is turning into a habit, and it is amazing some of the things you can find on it.

One of them is what appears to be a proposed promotional film from the Lackawanna, ca. 1962. It looks like they were attempting to bring Phoebe Snow up to date for the rock generation, complete with an attractive young woman in a white sweater and pants (very up to date for 1962), and at the same time also taking note of the success of the steam rambles on the nearby Reading Company, as may be seen at 1:18 in the clip below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohWd7S_pp84

Girl groups such as the Supremes were also popular at the time, and the Lackawanna may have been looking into that phenomenon as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcyiQ5mbJ-Y

It also appears that the French railway system, SNCF, (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français); may have had a very similar idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlVD3L1JtHs

Sadly, it seems that overly conservative management of both systems failed to take advantage of the combination of beautiful machinery and beautiful women, a combination that would be used with devastating effect by their rivals in the automobile industry and the aviation service. . .

(3/31/12 @ 11:59 Eastern Time)